Fleet Admiral Williamson looked at Aaen, then pointed at him. "Rank?"
"Lieutenant, sir."
Fleet Admiral Williamson pointed at another sitting behind Aaen, repeating the question.
"Colonel."
Aaen was wide-eyed, in shock, but stayed silent.
"Does anyone have a rank above a Colonel?" Fleet Admiral Williamson asked, directly. Aaen looked over his left shoulder, no more hands raised, and the room was silent.
"Raise your hand again if you want to be on the Odyssey." Admiral Williamson said, then gestured to line up behind Admiral Call.
The procedure continued for the Magellan and Galileo, supervised by Admirals Daymont and Carroll, respectively.
"The Magellan holds fifteen bridge crew. The Galileo holds five." Goosebumps were silently in abundance. Everyone just learned something about the most secretive ship in the Union fleet. Aaen felt a warm chill go down his spine, and then a cold chill back up.
Fleet Admiral Williamson dismissed each Admiral with their respective crews in order of closest to the entrance.
Aaen noticed the lights in the corridors were dimmer than when he had arrived; only half the lights in the hallways were on–some of the corridors were completely dark.
Left, left, then straight for fifty feet, Admiral Call faced the line then gestured towards the left side of the hallway. "Go ahead and use the restroom. Boys on the right." He gestured to the right side of the wall. "Then line up against this wall."
Approximately two minutes later, after the sound of running sinks, gushing soap and hand blow dryers, Aaen and the rest of the crew lined up.
Admiral Call started walking in the opposite direction down the hallway. "Follow me."
Aaen was third in line. The line followed Admiral Call straight for ten yards, then right into a short, narrow corridor branching into a large room with a 12-foot white board at the front Admiral Herring stood with a marker, writing circles and information on the white board with the Voyager's crew quietly watching. Aaen looked left to see the Odyssey's outer hull connected to a long docking arm. Odyssey was facing the front of her docking bay. Her blue and red warp nacelles were barely lit, dimming variably—almost like she was standing by, breathing, anxious to get out into space and underway. Aaen grinned, admiring her dark gray hull armor, with patches of black. On the ship's bow, emblazoned was: USSC ODYSSEY — NCC - 1995 - A. Aaen grinned. The forward external light shined on the ship's name and registry number perfectly, leaving just a small amount of shadow below the lettering to offer a sharper, more determined look. Aaen admired that. He felt as though the ship was almost looking at him, anticipating his arrival with the forward external light acting almost like an eye. The arrow-shaped of the forward hull was almost a smile directed at him.
The line slowed to stop for two minutes. Aaen looked forward. A tall black transporter was ten feet ahead. Admiral Call gestured for the line to enter the transporter two at a time. Aaen watched as Admiral Call entered a short code into a small panel next to the transporter. The panel lit up–those crew members inside disappeared in seconds in a brief swirl of light. Aaen looked behind him to see Jason and the rest of the crew.
Aaen stepped into the transporter, followed by Jason. Three seconds later, Aaen stepped off, then passed under a shorter and slightly narrower doorway. A sight for sore eyes, and a long-coming relief to years of longing. The middle of the bridge cabin was visible. A five-foot walk through a dark rectangular tunnel, Aaen looked to his right, a double-shelf neighbored by a replicator built into the adjacent wall. Behind the shelf was a tall, thin desk: the Operations station. Left of the desk was a double pair of carpeted steps leading to a small crawl space, ending with what Aaen knew was the Engineering station. It was essentially an abnormally-large mini-fridge with a computer terminal, a standard-issue auxiliary cyber unit and plenty of wiring, circuitry, and various tools necessary to complete any needed repairs to the ship. She only had two decks, the bridge was deck one. Deck two was for cargo and the ship's computer specialist. Aaen walked right to join the others who had already boarded, passing the lone bunk at foot level under the Operations station and the four others to the left, each about six feet long, a foot and a half tall and featuring a fine red, covered four-inch thick mat. The other two officers were standing up, leaning against the four bunks. Aaen walked right to take a seat on the top step in front of the Engineering section, next to the Operation station. The rest of the crew quickly entered, a crowd formed at the back of the bridge. The last few to enter sat on their heels, leaning on a knee. Admiral Call entered last, carrying a stack of paper in his left hand.
"Alright! It's time to assign jobs." Admiral Call said, walking up one step to the front of the bridge, walking around the captain's chair, taking three steps to stand in front of the main viewscreen between two computers, gesturing the crew's attention to his right to a computer directly left of the captain chair.
He gestured each computer station as he described the bridge. "This is the first officer's station, here to my right. Behind me and to my right is the Helm, this computer behind me and to my left is communications." Walking forward to his original position, he continued the tour, placing his left hand on top of a small white flat surface over a computer screen. "This is Tactical," pointing straight, "that is Sensors, to your right is Operations, and behind you is Engineering."
He stood next to the tactical station, fingered through the stack of paper, rearranging the papers in less than a minute. He called the first name on the stack, calling one of the crew forward. "You're a Colonel. What position do you want?"
Don't say 'Captain', don't say 'Captain'. Aaen thought, anxiously, eyeing the tall, black padded chair at the front and center of the bridge.
"Captain!" he grinned.
Aaen's stomach sank, watching as Admiral Call gestured the crew member to the chair. The crew member quickly took the seat, grinning as he grabbed the armrests. The rest of the crew turned their attention to Admiral Call, who went down the rest of the list. The next officer, a Major, took the First Officer station, then Operations, Communications, Sensors, and then Engineer.
Admiral Call looked at Aaen. "Helm and Tactical are the last two jobs available."
"I'll take the helm." He casually nodded, taking his seat.
"Okay, once you have all taken your seats, stand by for further instructions." said Admiral Call.
The crew put their uniforms on like T-shirts. Aaen tugged the front of his uniform, noticing the blue shoulders over a hanging black front and back. He turned right to face the center of the bridge, noticing the Captain and First Officer had yellow lining along their uniforms. He was somewhat upset at his position, but was glad to at least be on board, and was excited to pilot his favorite ship.
Someday, I'll be in that center seat, he thought, grinning confidently. Aaen knew the mission briefing was next—and then the mission would begin.
*****
Steve H. told Jordan Foutin, "You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."
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